JEDDAH: A number of mothers attended yesterday an interactive workshop on how to deal with angry children at the Enchanted Garden, a children’s center on Jeddah’s Tahliah Street.
Despite the center only opening in July, many mothers were in attendance, enthusiastic to learn techniques to help children deal with anger.
“Write down the physical and psychological changes you feel when you are angry,” Laila Taiba, a child special education consultant, told the mothers.
“When we are angry, we react intensely. Children do the same for various reasons. One of them is when the parents do not respond to what they want,” she added.
Taiba stressed the importance of teaching children at an early age how to control their rage. She said that the more a mother is skilled in providing a child with the tools to manage his or her annoyance, displeasure or hostility, the more socially successful he or she will be when older.
Taiba said many things make children angry. “Feeling neglected, rejected or when reacting to a situation, children respond with anger because they feel helpless,” said Taiba.
She added that children get agitated when they feel a situation is out of their control.
As part of her presentation, Taiba asked mothers to stand up. She then began giving them random orders causing the mothers to become confused. “That’s what your child feels when you give him or her random, confusing orders,” she said.
Taiba said studies prove that dealing with a child’s anger requires finding out what he or she feels and training him or her to deal with it. “Studies prove that it might take the parents between 50 to 75 times just to teach the child how to manage his or her rage,” she added.
Alaa Rehaimi, founder of Enchanted Garden, said the workshop is one of many opportunities for mothers and children to interact, learn and explore themselves in a happy, progressive atmosphere.
“We are targeting two age ranges. Newborn babies to three-year-olds, and four-year-olds to 12-year-olds. When a mother has a new baby, she becomes stressed and needs help with her child. We provide that in a friendly, unconventional environment,” said Rehaimi.
The center offers several programs, including the Sporty Baby program that is offered to mothers wanting to get fit while bonding with their babes.
The Mama and Me Babies is another program offering stimulating activities for pre-walkers, including sensory play, baby massage and singing.
“We also help children get prepared for kindergarten. Instead of having older children spending long hours with maids after school, or in front of the television, we engage them in quality time with their mothers or other activities,” said Rehaimi.
Activities include Qur’an lessons, dancing, story reading, physical fitness, drama, art, and languages. For more information, please contact 0546916812.
